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http://www.ohio.com/sports/browns/95584399.html

Energy sets Browns' new linebacker apart
By Nate Ulrich
Beacon Journal staff writer

POSTED: 10:18 p.m. EDT, Jun 03, 2010

BEREA: Somebody must have forgotten to remind veteran linebacker Chris Gocong that the Browns aren't practicing in pads until later this summer.

Clad in a pair of shorts, a brown and white No. 51 jersey and a helmet, Gocong took his pass-rushing duties seriously Thursday during organized team activities. Instead of going through the motions as some players do this time of year, Gocong zoomed past offensive linemen, ripping and spinning his way toward quarterback Jake Delhomme.

When rookie running back Montario Hardesty fumbled after catching a pass, Gocong scooped the ball off the ground with a lightning-quick reaction. Last week during another OTA session open to media, Gocong unintentionally leveled Hardesty with a clothesline that would have made legendary professional wrestler Ric Flair scream, ''Whoooo!''

''Sometimes you've got to dig down and find it on days like this — long days,'' Gocong said. ''I feel like I have a high motor, and it's contagious. When I'm flying around and when other linebackers are flying around, it translates to other people, so we try to keep that going.''

With his enthusiasm and ability to adapt, Gocong has caught the attention of Browns coach Eric Mangini.

''I think Chris Gocong has really made some excellent strides,'' Mangini said. ''He's a really smart guy. He's heard things now two or three times, and some of the littler things are starting to come.''

Gocong is one of the new faces at the Browns' headquarters this offseason. In early April, the Browns acquired Gocong and veteran defensive back Sheldon Brown for backup linebacker Alex Hall and two 2010 draft picks (fourth- and fifth-round selections) in a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Of the 47 games in which he played for the Eagles, Gocong started in 35 of them. Last season, he had 50 tackles, one sack and a forced fumble in 15 games, but he lost playing time to Moise Fokou toward the end of the season.

Nevertheless, the Browns and General Manager Tom Heckert, who became familiar with Gocong and Brown during his time with the Eagles, have faith in Gocong's ability to excel in their 3-4 defense. In recent practices, Gocong has been switching between the inside and outside linebacker spots along with Scott Fujita, David Bowens, Jason Trusnik and David Veikune.

''I think it's great to have guys that can [play inside and outside linebacker] because it gives you depth on the [active roster],'' Mangini said. ''When you play the game, you may not have to carry an extra inside linebacker or outside linebacker, you can just shift one of those guys to those spots and they can give you a level of play that maybe that extra guy that you would have carried would give you. Now it gives you some versatility if you want to carry an extra receiver or a core special teams player.''

Gocong, who said he played in a hybrid 3-4 system during his college days at Cal Poly, enjoys alternating positions for another reason: It creates chaos.

''Whenever we're moving around, it's keeping the quarterback [off balance],'' said Gocong, a California native. ''As much as I can move around, the more confusion it creates on the other side of the ball. I really don't have a preference. I just love the confusion it breeds.''

Perhaps more important than his relentlessness and flexibility, Gocong, like Brown, Delhomme, Fujita and tight end Ben Watson, bring leadership to the Browns. After all, they've been there and done that when it's mattered most.

''We have so many guys who have so much playoff experience, you know Super Bowl rings,'' said Gocong, who made three starts in his four career postseason appearances with the Eagles. ''I feel like we do have the talent. We have the guys who have been there before, who have been in that pressure and all that stuff. I feel like we've got something special.''

Now Gocong simply needs to show his new teammates he's capable of maintaining a high intensity level when it's time to wear pads and hit in earnest.

''I can't wait,'' he said.

Gocong going all out has to step other guys' effort up, too. As an OL, you don't want to be embarrassed at any time. So, this guy flies past you once, you make sure it doesn't happen again. Now, you're practicing at game speed, or as close as you're going to get for a practice with no pads.

What do they say? Practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect. Just going through the motions doesn't accomplish that.

If it was Thomas he flew by then we can all say niceeee If it was St. Claire or Pashos then we can say o joy

We are trying to make Evan Moore this years K2. He is going to be moved around and will be given every opportunity to be successful.

Carlton Mitchell was a real long strider in college and i imagine he is having to learn not just how to run the routes but how to run. chopping those steps and how to keep that extra gear hidden until needed (which has become a lost art for NFL receivers)

I am seeing a defense built to blitz from everywhere, especially out of the secondary. I think Holmgren and Heckert are really doing their best to give Rob Ryan what he wants. Buddy Ball in Cleveland. Woo hoo

I am seeing an offense built to run the ball 45 plus. Asking Jake to throw more than 20 times a game is not going to win any games, make enough plays to keep the defense semi honest and you have a chance.

Man controlling field position with special teams is a must with the route we are taking. Continue the tough guy attitude on O and D and maybe.

Just a little OTA goodie I though I'd pass along .......

http://www.cleveland.com/browns/index.ssf/2010/06/jim_brown_keeping_a_low_positi.html

Browns quarterbacks have thrown approximately 350 passes in OTA workouts in the off-season and have recorded only four interceptions.

Caption this pic:



Ward: "I just wanted to say that I loved you in The Green Mile!"

Ward: "What are you complaining about? At least Wimbley is still in the league!"

I like what I am reading. A mix of old and new school. It seems logical that, if we can do unto others who have beaten us those same things with which they beat us, we can win as well. Proven already that we rarely win without them (blitzing, fewer penalties, blitzing, 3rd down conversions, catching the ball, tackling, etc.).
Buddy ball, some ElfCat, a WCO that attacks vertically, it is all high stakes, but it is football that we can play a danged sight better than the last four years. In fact, it might be much better than some anticipate.

Steve needs a proofreader ......

http://blogs.cantonrep.com/freshbrownies/the-old-pro-the-ice-man-and-the-kid/

The old pro, the ice man, and the kid
Jun 8th, 2010 @ 8:55 am by Steve Doerschuk

WE’RE NOT SURE whether this says something about how Nick Sorensen has stuck in the NFL for nine seasons … or whether it tells you what spring practice is worth.

But …

Sorensen has made it through 116 NFL games, including 41 with the Browns, without having ever made an interception in a real game. Yesterday, he had two interceptions during 11-on-11s, first against Seneca Wallace on a tipped ball, later against Colt McCoy on a sideline throw, a tough moment for McCoy, who is getting precious few reps.

In another life, Sorensen was a quarterback at Virginia Tech at the same time as Michael Vick. He switched to safety, which appears to have been a solid career move.

• • •

Since last year, the Browns have practiced while playing music boomed through speaker boxes arranged along the sidelines of their practice fields.

The edge of one field is about 20 feet from the back yards in an old Berea neighborhood, separated by a fence.

I’ve often wondered how the neighbors feel about the periodic tuneage, and I’ll ask them sometime this year.

On Monday, I needed batteries for my tape recorded and took a quick hike through the neighborhood to a little store. I remember hearing the line “… ‘scuse me, I happen to be the ice man.”

The music wasn’t obnoxiously loud on the sidewalks but would have seemed louder in back yards. It was faint but audible at a playground about a block south of the team complex’s southern edge. I could hear the base rumbling two blocks away.

• • •

Joel Reinders, the 6-foot-7 project lineman from Canada, has had to run a penalty lap the last two times I watched practice. Maybe he felt better when he saw that eighth-year pro Tony Pashos had to run one, too, on Monday.

This might not mean much, since offensive linemen make their money moving their feet in short areas, but … Pashos really seems to labor when he runs in a straight line. Could be legs that have been through too many wars. Could be carrying 325 pounds.

• • •

This may not mean much, either: Brett Ratliff and rookie wideout Clifton Mitchell seem to have established a nice chemistry.

On one throw, Ratliff sailed the ball about 20 yards in the air to the back of the end zone. Mitchell made a nice, fully extended grab over a defensive back who got away before I could catch his number.

• • •

Outside expectations for the Browns seem unreasonably low.

Jason Cole, a yahoo.com writer I usually bump into at the Super Bowl, sees even Cleveland’s running game in the toilet bowl.

Some of you caught Cole’s ranking of the league’s NFL’s running attacks, 1 through 32. He has the Browns at No. 32.

Let me take a wild guess and say Jason didn’t spend 12 hours a day for the entire offseason researching this. Let’s guess that his loose process was … the Browns suck, and somebody’s gotta be last.

Consider that the Browns:

• Ran for 2,087 yards in 2009, when the league average was 1,866.

• Got their best yards without Jamal Lewis, who was past his prime.

• Have replaced a washed-up Lewis with a fresh Montario Hardesty and Peyton Hillis in a mix with Jerome Harrison.

• Figure to have a better offensive flow this year with a veteran quarterback.

• Have Mike Holmgren and Gil Haskell helping on offense now with a staff that got its first-year bugs worked out.

• Should get better blocking, by virtue of position coach George Warhop being in his second year, center Alex Mack having his rookie growing pains behind him, and adding Tony Pashos and Shawn Lauvao as options on the right side.

• • •

Warhop, the line coach, is pushing hard in practice. On the field, he’s not babying the rookie Round 3 pick, Lauvao, one bit.

They spent lots of time in meetings ironing things out, but once Lauvao is in drills, he’s being treated like an employee with a job to do.

The pace of Warhop’s speech is bang, bang, bang.

“All right. Everybody’s into it. Set! Here’s what we got. Everybody pay attention. OK. First down. First down.”

The linemen fire off and pop some pads. Warhop moves swiftly to the next order of business.

“Blitz pick-up. Let’s go.”

Warhop, 48, has been around, having coached with the Rams, Cardinals, Cowboys, 49ers and now the Browns. He was an offensive lineman for the Cincinnati Bearcats in the early 1980s.

If he can put together a strong line — and the talent at his disposal is playoff quality — the offense has a chance.

• • •

Should a 25-year-old kid be calling the shots for a pro sports organization?

That may be happening with a team near you.

We don’t know how that will work out. It did cross our minds that the Cleveland Indians appointed a 25-year-old lad to manage them in 1942. He was also the shortstop, Lou Boudreau.

It took a while, but at age 31, player-manager Boudreau led the Indians to victory in the 1948 World Series.

That was a long time ago, back when entire team rosters had smaller combined payrolls for a year than LeBron James makes in one game.

Eric Mangini, incidentally, isn’t a kid any more. He will turn 40 before the next Super Bowl

1st off Steve Dork lets get it right. It's Carlton Mitchell you bone headed want to be *GEEZ* why would we listen to some guy who doesn't even know who we drafted.

2nd Mitchell and Shawn Lauvao are bright hard working kids who WANT to learn. Teach them don't tear them down. Nobody is going to out work either one of these kids.

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1st off Steve Dork lets get it right.

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When did I change my name?

LOL You didn't bro. I was refering to the other dork

Well, alright then. Thanks for clearing that up. lol

Your welcome

Signed King of the Dorks

I bow to no man.

Or dork.

Until we tossed out the Bums that have made NFL football a laughingstock in Cleveland and replaced the front office with a real Football man( holmgren) we had a revolving door of inept players picked by inept personnel men coached by sub standard coaches.
We improved at TE, OL, DB, LB, RB and there is no dispute over that. Tis is different, and while I am not wild about Mangini I hope he proves me wrong as a coach.

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We improved at TE, OL, DB, LB, RB and QB and there is no dispute over that.

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I fixed it for you

I was thinking "Sam Bradford Sucks", or "Bring back Brady!" would be good choices for Toad's signature ......

"Shaeffer is my Hero"